### Origin Medical Hall, Inside
Black sat on the table with its tiny, round eyes filled with despair.
"Master, we still don't have any patients," it complained miserably. "At this rate, even you will starve. What about me? I need meat!"
White puffed out its chest and looked at Black with disdain.
"The master must have a plan. Stop whining."
Zion couldn't help but laugh. He reached over and gently patted White's fluffy head.
"White is right. I do have a plan."
Both furballs immediately perked up.
Black leaned forward, its curiosity overcoming its despair. "What plan?"
A faint, sly smile appeared on Zion's face.
"We'll let Vanessa handle it."
Black froze.
"That arrogant princess? Help us?"
"Exactly."
Zion leaned back in his chair, completely at ease.
"Why do you think I allowed my face to become known during the opening? Once word reaches the palace, Vanessa will hear about Origin Medical Hall sooner or later. All we need to do is wait for her to make a move."
The two furballs stared at him blankly.
Neither seemed to understand exactly how the former fiancee's existence had anything to do with attracting patients.
Zion didn't bother explaining.
He had already considered the problem from several angles. A completely unknown young physician opening a medical hall would naturally struggle to attract customers. But if someone with sufficient status became his patient, the situation would change immediately.
And there was one particular person who was very likely to become interested in him.
Before either furball could ask another question, a familiar voice suddenly came from the entrance.
"My husband, how could you leave without telling me? I've been looking for you everywhere."
Zion's smile stiffened.
He recognized that voice immediately.
He slowly turned his head.
Sure enough, Callista had arrived.
The wheelchair-bound princess was dressed in her usual golden robes, her calm and beautiful features carrying that same faintly teasing expression Zion remembered from their encounter a week earlier. Alder followed behind her, looking considerably less amused by the situation.
Zion's expression darkened.
"Who is your husband?"
He had nearly thrown this woman off a roof the last time she started teasing him. Now she had actually dared to call him her husband in front of everyone.
Callista blinked innocently.
"My husband, you saved me in front of all those people. Everyone witnessed it. Shouldn't I take responsibility for that?"
Zion's forehead twitched.
"When did I ever agree to that?"
Callista placed a hand over her heart with exaggerated seriousness.
"That sunny day…"
"Skip to the important part."
"You saved me," Callista said solemnly. "Therefore, I should repay you with my body. I'm not someone who forgets a debt."
Alder stood silently behind her.
His expression remained composed, but internally he was already screaming.
His normally dignified princess was behaving like a shameless flirt in broad daylight. Even worse, she seemed completely comfortable doing it.
Zion rubbed his forehead.
The problem wasn't even Callista's appearance. If anything, it was that her extremely beautiful face made her ridiculous behavior more difficult to tolerate.
"If you truly want to thank me," Zion said dryly, "then please stop appearing in front of me. I would be grateful."
He had seriously underestimated this woman's shamelessness.
Callista, however, seemed completely unaffected by his irritation.
She simply rolled her wheelchair farther into Origin Medical Hall and casually looked around.
"My dear husband, I didn't expect you to become a physician."
Her gaze moved over the clean interior before settling on Zion again.
"But it seems business isn't going particularly well. Do you need my help?"
The corner of Zion's mouth twitched.
He stared at her suspiciously.
"What can you even do for me?"
Then he added without hesitation, "If you really want to help, you can start by paying back the hundred gold coins you owe me."
Callista once again placed a hand over her heart.
"Talking about money damages the feelings between husband and wife. With the bond we share, surely such a small matter can be forgotten."
Her smile was warm and gentle.
To anyone else, the expression might have been charming.
To Zion, it was simply another warning sign.
This woman was impossible.
"However," Callista continued smoothly, "I can help you attract customers."
Zion had been preparing another retort, but stopped.
That caught his attention.
"Oh?"
He studied her.
"And how do you plan to do that?"
Zion already had his own method in mind, but if Callista had a useful suggestion, there was no reason to reject it.
A confident smile appeared on Callista's face.
"That's simple."
She gestured toward herself.
"Isn't there already a patient standing in front of you?"
Zion stared at her for a moment before realization dawned.
"You?"
"Of course."
Callista nodded with complete elegance.
"If you can cure my legs, I'll give you whatever reward you want."
Alder's expression changed immediately.
The atmosphere around him became tense.
Callista's legs were not a simple injury. Even the greatest divine physicians on the continent had examined her and failed to find a solution. Countless physicians had tried to treat her over the years, yet none had been able to restore her ability to walk.
Now this young man, who had only just opened a medical hall, was being asked to diagnose the condition that had defeated all of them.
Alder instinctively stepped forward.
"Young Miss…"
His tone carried a clear warning.
Someone approaching Callista's body without sufficient trust was dangerous. If Zion were secretly an enemy or a spy, this would be the perfect opportunity to harm her.
Callista raised one hand, stopping him.
"I want to see what this handsome physician can do."
Her eyes remained fixed on Zion, carrying a trace of amusement.
Zion understood immediately.
She wasn't merely asking him to treat her.
She was testing him.
And judging by the faint challenge in her eyes, she didn't truly believe that he could cure her.
Fine.
Zion wasn't offended.
He had no patients waiting anyway.
"Then I'll examine you."
He moved toward her without hesitation.
When he reached the wheelchair, Zion took her hand and began examining her condition.
He had expected her skin to carry the warmth of an ordinary person's body.
Instead, the moment his fingers touched hers, an unnatural chill traveled through his fingertips.
Cold.
Not merely cool, but icy cold, as though her flesh had been deprived of warmth for years.
Zion's expression changed slightly.
That wasn't normal.
Callista noticed the change immediately.
Her own gaze sharpened as she watched his face.
She had been paying close attention to every reaction since he touched her.
Zion released her hand after a moment and became more serious.
The condition affecting her legs wasn't ordinary.
"Milady," Alder said cautiously, "your body shouldn't be examined carelessly, especially by someone whose background is still unclear."
His voice was respectful, but the warning beneath it was unmistakable.
Callista didn't seem concerned.
"I want to see what he can do."
She glanced at Zion.
"And besides, why would my husband want to hurt me?"
Zion's eyebrows lifted slightly.
He ignored the teasing.
Instead, his attention remained on Alder.
For just an instant, he had caught something in the man's eyes.
Killing intent.
It disappeared almost immediately, but Zion had noticed it.
And it hadn't been weak.
That kind of killing intent couldn't be cultivated through empty threats. It belonged to someone who had actually taken lives, and plenty of them.
Zion's eyes narrowed slightly.
'An expert like that serves beside a crippled princess who has supposedly been abandoned by the imperial family?'
Something didn't add up.
He said nothing.
Instead, he took Callista's wrist again.
This time, he paid closer attention.
Her palm was rougher than he had expected, with faint calluses along her fingers.
Which royal princess can have faint calluses? That itself is suspicious.
A swordswoman?
Zion's gaze flickered.
She was a fighter.
And judging from the condition of her hands, she wasn't someone who had merely trained occasionally.
She had spent years wielding a weapon.
His interest deepened.
At that moment, Callista was watching him just as carefully.
Her deep blue-violet eyes remained steady, following every subtle change in his expression.
She had originally come here to see whether the rumors surrounding Zion were true.
The boy in front of her did not resemble the useless young master she had heard about.
He wasn't timid.
He wasn't nervous.
And he certainly didn't behave like someone who had spent his entire life hiding inside a general's estate.
'What happened to him?'
The questions came one after another.
How had a boy who was supposedly useless suddenly opened a medical hall?
Where had he learned medicine?
Why did he carry himself with such natural authority?
That last point bothered Callista the most.
She had commanded people before.
She knew what authority looked like.
It wasn't something that could simply be copied through posture or speech. True authority came from experience, from making decisions and having others obey them. Yet Zion possessed that quality despite supposedly having spent most of his life confined within the General's Manor.
He had barely stepped into the outside world until a week ago.
So where had this presence come from?
Callista's curiosity toward him grew.
Meanwhile, Zion's fingers continued tracing her pulse.
Then his expression abruptly changed.
His eyes widened.
He had felt something.
Something that shouldn't have been there.
Zion's breathing slowed as he carefully examined the strange force hidden within her body.
'This…'
It wasn't an injury.
It wasn't a simple disability.
The sensation was far deeper.
A strange, oppressive aura had seeped into her body and intertwined with her very existence. It wasn't merely sitting on the surface of her flesh or circulating through her spiritual energy. It had penetrated far deeper, as though it had become part of her body itself.
A curse.
But even that description didn't seem quite right.
This wasn't an ordinary external curse that could simply be removed.
Zion's eyes sharpened as the answer finally emerged in his mind.
'No wonder.'
His breath caught slightly.
He finally understood what had caused Callista's condition.
She possessed a physique that shouldn't have existed in an ordinary person.
The Physique of Protos.